Compound coatings are well known to those skilled in the art (see Chocolate, Cocoa, and Confectionery; Third Edition, 1989, Bernard W. Minifie; AVI), pp165-182). They are traditionally produced by pressing hot chocolate liquor (produced by roasting cocoa beans, cooling, winnowing to form the nibs and grinding the nibs to form the liquor containing from about 50 to 60% cocoa butter) using hydraulic pressure to extract the cocoa butter and form a cocoa press cake, pulverizing the cocoa press cake to cocoa powder and adding a compound coating fat or confectionery fat to form the cocoa liquor substitute (also known as compound liquor) which is used along with sweeteners and other ingredients to make the compound coating. Compound coating fats or confectionery fats are, for example, cocoa butter alternatives which include vegetable fats such as cocoa butter equivalents (CBE) or cocoa butter substitutes (CBS) which are well known to those skilled in the art, e.g. CBS laurics and CBS nonlaurics (see Chocolate, Cocoa, and Confectionery; Third Edition, 1989, Bernard W. Minifie; AVI, pp100-109).
In this invention the term "compound liquor" is meant to denote cocoa liquor substitute which may be used to make compound coatings or alternatives to chocolate. The term "confectionery fat" is meant to denote compound coating fats.
A major problem with the traditional process for producing compound liquor is that when the cocoa butter is pressed from the hot chocolate liquor, some of the fat soluble chocolate flavor compounds are removed along with it. In addition, further flavor losses occur when the cocoa press cake is pulverized into cocoa powder since there is a high airflow over the product during this step.
We have devised a process for producing a compound liquor which has a better chocolate flavor and aroma than that produced in the traditional process. This involves mixing a cocoa powder which has been obtained from cocoa beans without any roasting treatment with a confectionery fat and roasting the mixture of cocoa powder and confectionery fat to produce the compound liquor.